Page 75 of Shine For Me

“You realize that you’re never actually going to find something perfect,” Rose pipes up. “You like too many different things, Lele.”

“My wedding is going to be perfect,” she says in an uncharacteristically grim voice, like she’s challenging anyone to disagree.

“What kind of wedding did you have?” I ask Rose and Leo.

Rose’s husband waves a hand toward Bodhi, who he’s been best friends with since college. “We let Bodhi and Paige plan it,” he says. “Rose and I just showed up where and when they told us.”

“Which was amazing,” Rose says, snuggling up next to her guy. “I highly recommend letting someone else make all the decisions.”

Everly looks horrified by the very idea.

“My aunties would be all about taking over the planning,” Bodhi says. “They keep hinting we should get married in India, even though most of my family is here or in the UK. They definitely want to show off for their old neighborhood.”

“Ooh, I went to a wedding in Mumbai last year,” I say. “It was so beautiful!”

“Was it a Hindu ceremony?” he asks.

“This couple actually had two ceremonies and three receptions,” I say. “They did a Hindu wedding in Mumbai—which was so gorgeous and colorful, all of those flowers! Then they did a western style wedding in New York, with a reception. And then they did another party on the west coast.”

Leo gives a mock shudder. “No thanks. One night in a monkey suit was more than enough for me.”

“It was pretty over the top,” I say, not mentioning that the couple was literally Indian royalty. “But it was cool to see three different styles.”

“Three weddings?” Everly asks, her eyes lighting up.

“Oh God,” Fox groans. “Why in the hell would you suggest that to her? Now she’s going to want three weddings!”

“Youshouldhave three weddings,” River says from the other side of the aisle. He’s on his third rum and Coke already and I think he’s well on his way to being tipsy. “Three weddings means three cakes. I freaking love cake.”

“Ooh,” Jasmine says, her voice a little slurred. “You could havefourweddings. Then you’d have four cakes!”

“Yessss,” River agrees, throwing his arms up.

“I think we’re cutting the two of you off already,” Rose says.

“No way,” Jasmine shouts. “This is baby-free time, baby!”

“I need to apologize for my completely embarrassing family,” Fox mutters, but I can’t stop smiling. The Ransomes are fun. And I’m realizing more and more that I don’t have enough fun in my life.

Then Alex strolls up to the front of the plane, resting her hip against the side of Everly’s chair. “What about you?” she asks in an innocent voice, and it takes me a second to realize she’s talking to me. “What kind of wedding are you planning?”

“I…what?”

“You’re engaged, right? Pretty sure I was at your engagement party.”

“Alex!” Everly hisses, glaring up at her.

“I’m not…I mean…” I’m stammering, completely unable to form a full sentence. Are all the Ransomes staring at me? I’m pretty sure they’re all staring at me. I can feel my face getting hotter.

“She’s not engaged,” Fox snaps, glaring up at his cousin. “Which you know. So why the hell are you trying to embarrass her?”

Now I feel even worse because Fox looks pissed. I don’t want him to be mad at his family because of me. Especially not Alex or Everly. They’re his business partners. The last thing they need is tension between them.

Alex just shrugs, her eyes still on me. She doesn’t look at all pleased by what she sees. “I guess I was confused. I saw an article just yesterday that mentioned you and your fiancé.”

Something cold slithers into my belly. My grandfather finally agreed that we would make the announcement on Tuesday, the day most of the major celebrity gossip magazines go to print. That should limit some of the coverage, since they won’t be able to run cover stories on the breakup for a whole week.

But from the way Alex is looking at me right now, it’s clear she doesn’t care the reasons for postponing. Either she doesn’t believe the engagement is actually off, or she thinks I’m giving her cousin the runaround. Suddenly, her behavior since boarding the flight makes a lot more sense.